Weather: Perfect. warm, 70F when I started, 75F when I finished. Sunny. Light WNW wind ~ 2mph. This was a cross/tail wind going downstream and cross/head going upstream. Water was very flat. Really delightful.
Plan: I was originally thinking to do a technique session, but I changed my mind. I have been doing a lot of rate ladders and technique work, but not much pure steady state rowing. And when I do, it tends to be at r18. This has helped me work on balance and stroke mechanics, but it also has encouraged me to pull really hard at the low rate to get any kind of decent pace. Today, I decided to try upping the rate a bit, and lighten my stroke to keep it low intensity
- Steady State
- 4 x ~3000m
- 1′ rests to turn the boat and grab a quick drink
- Rate: 20 SPM
- Pace: faster than 2:30
- Heart Rate: < 155, start to ease up on pressure when HR gets above 150
- Technique: Favor length over power. Get fully compressed at the catch. Finish clean and early. Get those damn blades off the water.
rowsandall.com plots of the TCX data from CrewNerd
Plots from Speedcoach impeller data
Summary data from Speedcoach
Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_1115_|_07:59_|_3:34.9_|_136___|_17.0_|_08.2_|_114___|_warmup
01137_|_2697_|_13:01_|_2:24.8_|_265___|_20.4_|_10.2_|_147___|_downstream tail wind
03830_|_0061_|_00:33_|_4:29.7_|_009___|_16.4_|_06.8_|_126___|_
03900_|_2728_|_13:27_|_2:27.8_|_272___|_20.2_|_10.0_|_148___|_upstream head wind
06617_|_0171_|_01:09_|_3:22.3_|_018___|_15.6_|_09.5_|_137___|_
06800_|_2827_|_13:54_|_2:27.5_|_281___|_20.2_|_10.1_|_148___|_downstream lt tail
09615_|_0124_|_00:41_|_2:47.3_|_014___|_20.2_|_08.9_|_124___|_
09750_|_2731_|_13:33_|_2:28.9_|_274___|_20.2_|_10.0_|_151___|_upstream lt head
12480_|_1203_|_07:09_|_2:58.2_|_128___|_17.9_|_09.4_|_139___|_cool down
Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
01115_|_07:59_|_3:34.9_|_136___|_17.0_|_08.2_|_114___|_warmup
10983_|_53:55_|_2:27.3_|_1092___|_20.3_|_10.1_|_148___|_Main set
00356_|_02:24_|_3:21.7_|_041___|_17.1_|_08.7_|_130___|_rest meters
01203_|_07:09_|_2:58.2_|_128___|_17.9_|_09.4_|_139___|_cool down
13657_|_11:26_|_2:36.9_|_1397___|_19.6_|_09.8_|_143___|_Total
Tomorrow: 1000m time trial, 10 minute rest, 4 x 750 / 4′ rest
Quantified Rowing 
Blades off the water is not something I would actively work on. It should come with time. Good to vary the stroke rate a bit in steady state.
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Re Blades: I try to focus on it because if I don’t, I find that I don’t lift the oars enough on recovery and sometimes I will catch myself skimming on both sides. That’s just lazy. I’d like to not touch at all, but I’m OK with one side touching once or twice lightly on a recovery. The other thing that focusing on getting my blades off the water does is it makes me very aware of my finishes. Sometimes I get lazy with my finishes and slap the water when I feather coming out. Trying to row clean makes me concentrate on my finishes more effectively. I can’t do it for long period because other things go wrong (like not get far enough out at the catch), but I try to “keep an eye” on my rowing and take ten strokes working on a specific aspect if I see it going wrong.
Re varying stroke rate: Usually I agree. But today, I really wanted to work on stroke pressure. Specifically, could I hold rate and lighten pressure to stick with my heart rate cap. The cool thing is that when I lighten up, keep the rate steady, and focus on long strokes, often I would see the pace improve AND my HR go down. It gives me hope that I can get more speed out of improving technique!
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